Headaches can often be the result of every day pressures and stress. But another kind of pressure can also cause headache – that of sinus pressure. Sinuses can be the culprit if you’re having chronic headaches. But you may not recognize that your sinuses are the cause when you don’t have other symptoms.
Many people have sinus problems and don’t even know it. The sinuses are spaces throughout your head that are open areas. These areas are places where mucus can collect. It can even become infected and clogged. This is called sinusitis when sinuses are clogged up and painful.
Most people believe that sinus infections have to go hand in hand with other symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, runny nose, or stuffed up nose. But sinus problems can occur even if you don’t have those symptoms. This is particularly true when you have problems with the maxillary sinus.
The maxillary sinus is just above your mouth. It can become clogged up and cause painful toothaches and headaches with no other symptoms. Often this problem is diagnosed by x-ray images that show the infection. The good news is that when you have a pressure headache, sinus infections can be treated quite easily and very effectively.
A physician or other healthcare provider can prescribe decongestants and antibiotics to help alleviate the pressure and kill the infection. Depending on the severity of your infection, the treatment can work in just a few days. For more serious infections it may be a week or two before you have relief.
In the short-term you can take hot, steamy showers can help to move the fluid out of your head and loosen sinuses. You can also use cleansing systems that use saline to clean the sinuses.
Pressure headache can be very painful and you may find that you’re absolutely miserable as a result of the pain. However, you don’t have to live with this pain forever. In fact, a quick trip to the doctor will help you to get rid of it. You may also need to do things to prevent the headache from occurring again.
To prevent pressure headache you may want to take allergy medication on a regular basis. This keeps mucus from being overproduced and clogging your sinuses. For some people who have problems with clogged sinuses, a decongestant may also need to be taken on a regular basis. In addition, steamy showers and spicy food can help to keep your sinuses open.
